How do I identify and access Angel Investor Groups to target? I am looking for an initial seed of $500K and then another round of $2MM.

Answers

As you may know, your initial $500K round may be in sweet spot for angels. Your expected follow-on of $2M will more likely have to come as a Series A by VCs, but in some rare cases one might raise that size of a round by syndicating across many angels.

In the same way as "all politics are local", it is also largely true that angel investors tend to invest locally. So your starting point should be to learn about local investors and angel groups in your geography. You can explore some of the larger angel groups via the Angel Capital Association, at http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/directory .

Meanwhile, a nearly universal truth is that angel investors prefer to look at opportunities that come to them via their own trusted network. So you in turn need to work your own network to find "friends of friends" who can get you in contact with angels (and angel groups) in your area. For more on this topic (“how to get in front of an Angel investor”), perhaps take a look at my previous post:https://www.proformative.com/ask/question/what-best-way-get-front-angel-investor

One completely different approach is to post your opportunity online, via one of the following:
1) A popular new site, at least here in Silicon Valley, is http://www.angellist.com , where you can post your executive summary to be viewed by a wide variety of angels. My understanding is that business plans rarely get traction via AngelList, unless the entrepreneur first gets agreement from one of the angels to show interest, before posting. Otherwise, the posting will likely receive nothing but the sound of crickets chirping.
2) There is also the more traditional http://www.angelsoft.net/ where entrepreneurs can submit their executive summary online, which in turn can be viewed by certain angel investor groups who use that particular system. But again, I doubt that many deals get funded purely through the online submission, without priming the pump by working one’s network to generate the first interest.

Keiretsu Forum, and I'd guess many other angel groups, have a way in which you can apply via the group's web site to present to them. Since the question comes up periodically in our business, we created a list of active San Francisco Bay Area angel associations (list also includes the Angel Capital Assoc. directory Bruce mentioned above). This is in no way meant to contradict anything Bruce said, but to augment it. Even if you do succeed in getting through this door (which is itself a screening mechanism), you'll still need advocate(s) in that association. Keiretsu Forum offers great advice on their web site to those applying to present to them.

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